A New Friend: Kanto Journeys
by Yasuragi12
Summary: Ash never had many friends growing up. One of the only people he counted was Gary. What if he had another friend? One that suck with him through it all. Watch the adventures of Ash and Max, as they take on the Indigo League.
1. Chapter 1

A New Friend: Kanto Journeys

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful morning in Pallet Town. The sun was rising towards the sky, with white fluffy clouds rolling across the vast blue. The Pidgey were chirping, the Spearow were cawing, and the neighbor's Dodrio screamed to the morning like it thought it was a rooster.

It was unaware of a danger, though, as the neighbor's Persian stalked towards it, hoping to silence the damn bird. It came closer and closer, while the dumb bird continued to caw obliviously. She reached a paw out, dreaming of mornings that she could sleep through uninterrupted…

"WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!"

The sound burst out through the window below them, breaking the, uh, peacefulness of the morning. The Dodrio jumped off the roof of the house in a panic, and ran back to the safety of it's home.

The Persian wasn't as lucky. It tripped in it's surprise, and tumbled off the roof. Unable to gain it's balance, it landed on the front porch in a heap. Not wanting to face the wrath of whatever that thing was, it immediately scrambled to its feat, and ran like a Houndour was on it's tail.

Inside the house, the person creating the racket was not letting up.

"ASH KETCHUM, YOU WILL WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! IT'S TIME TO GET OUR FIRST POKEMON, AND I AM NOT GOING TO BE LATE BECAUSE YOU DECIDED TO SLEEP IN! SO GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE BEFORE I GO UP THERE AND DRAG YOU OUT OF BED MYSELF!"

"I'm up, I'm up!"

Ash Ketchum scrambled to put on his sock and go down the stairs at the same time. He tripped, and fell flat on his face at the bottom of the stairs. Ignoring the pain, he hurriedly shoved his foot into the stubborn sock, and ran to get to an apple off the table. Before he could reach it though, and hand latched onto his wrist. Ash looked to the owner of the hand, terrified that they might start screaming at him.

"You're still wearing your pajama bottoms," she said with a smile. The owner of the hand is Maxine Whitman (but call her Max, she'd kill you if you called her Maxine). She has shoulder length brown hair held back by her orange goggles. Her stormy-grey eyes sparkled with mirth at his reaction.

Ash nodded his head, pulled his hand out of hers, and ran back to his room. Max giggled at how easily she could scare him, and turned around when someone joined her. Ash's mom, Delia Ketchum, stood at the entrance to the kitchen with a plate of pancakes in hand.

"Thank you for waking him up. He stayed up really late last night, and I was afraid that he'd sleep through the whole thing!"

Max smirked. "I thought something like that would happen, so I came to make sure that it wouldn't."

Ash stumbled down the stairs again, slipping on his glove as he ran towards Max. "I'm done, I'm done! Now let's go!"

Max laughed as she grabbed Ash's arm. "Slow down, Ash! We have time! Eat the pancakes your mom kindly made for us."

Ash stilled as her words sunk in. He shot her a confused look, and she responded by pointing at the clock hung on the wall. It read 8:30 am. The time they were supposed to arrive is 10:00 am.

Ash glared at Max, pointed at her, and exclaimed, "You liar! We're not even 10 minutes early. We have an hour and a half until we have to leave!"

She laughed heartily. "Oh, Ash, it's so much fun to get you riled up! I got here extra early so that I could make sure you would actually be up in time, and so that we can go over what we are bringing."

Ash pouted and grumbled, but sat down at the table to eat his mother's delicious cooking.

Said mother smiled as the two of them bickered over their food. The two of them have been best friends ever since they were little. Max had integrated herself so easily into the small family, that Delia considered Max as a daughter. _'It would certainly be much quieter without the two of them here,'_ she thought to herself. She shook her head slightly. _'Now, now, it's not the time to get depressed. My little children are finally growing up!'_

The rest of the time was spent going over what they packed, and making sure they didn't forget anything. The time passed quickly, and it was soon time to go to Professor Oak's Lab.

Max and Ash stepped out of the house with their stuff in hand. Delia stood in the doorway, waving them off.

Max asked, "Aren't you going to come with us Mrs. Ketchum?"

Delia shook her head. "Nope. I'll come later with your parents, but there are a couple of things I want to take care of first."

Ash nodded his head. "Alright. We'll see you in a bit Mom!"

* * *

The two of them walked up the hill to the lab, and found a couple of people standing in front of it. Professor Oak was there, chatting with his grandson, Gary Oak. Another kid stood off to the side.

Gary used to be great friends with Ash, but at some point, he became arrogant and cocky. The two of them drifted away from each other, and became rivals. Though, more often than not, Gary just insults Ash, and the two escalate into a fight.

Professor Oak is one of the leading Pokémon professors of the world. He's pretty much the only reason Pallet Town is marked on any maps. He was a great trainer in his youth, and taught Gary, Ash, and Max some things about Pokémon.

The other kid is Steven. He's the only other kid that wants to be a Pokémon Trainer in their age group. Max and Ash had a couple of classes with him, but never really knew him that well.

The Professor looked up at their entrance. "Well, look who showed up! On time, but still the last ones to arrive."

Max rolled her eyes. "We wanted to be prepared before we came. Never know if something would happen right?"

Gary snorted, and opened his mouth to retort something, but the Professor beat him to it.

"Well, at least we are all here, so let's get started."

The four of them followed the professor into the lab. He led them into a room with a table that had three pokéballs on it, and two bags on another.

"You four are going to be Pokémon Trainers. Before you choose your Pokémon, I'm going to need to explain a few things first."

Ash was frowning at the table, and spoke up. "Professor, there are only three pokéballs."

Professor Oak blinked and glanced at the table. "Oh. Oops. We only have three of the starters…"

Steven spoke up for the first time. "So… Does that mean one of us is not going to get a Pokémon?"

Professor Oak waved his hands frantically. "No no, oh heavens, no! Everyone here is going to get a Pokémon. But I'm afraid that one of you is going to not get one of the official starter Pokémon. You'll have to wait for me to get it after everyone else has chosen theirs…"

The four of them glanced at each other. They all wanted a Pokémon so desperately, especially the starters. Gary looked resolved in saying no, and Steven looked at little scared at the fact of receiving an unknown Pokémon. Ash and Max looked at each other. It would have to be one of them.

Ash spoke up first. "I'll do it."

Max started. She was about to say the same thing. "But Ash…"

He smiled at her. "I know how much you wanted a Charmander. I don't really care what Pokémon I get, as long as we become friends."

Her eyes widened slightly. Her face melted into a warm smile. "Thanks, Ash."

Gary ruined the moment by snorting and saying, "Stop all of this mushy stuff and get going already. I want my Pokémon!"

Max glared at him and muttered incoherently under her breath. The Professor hurried through his explanation, not wanting to be there when Max blew her top. Gary was one of he few things to get her really angry.

"Alright, moving on. The first thing you need are pokéballs," he said, reaching into the first bag. He pulled out a pokéball and enlarged it. "You need one of these to be able to catch Pokémon. This is the most basic pokéball that you can find in any PokéMart. There are many different kinds, but this is the one I'll be handing out to you today. Just reach inside the bag and take five pokéballs each."

They received our pokéballs, and watched the Professor as he reached into the other bag. "The other thing that you need is a Pokédex. Now, this thing is special, and not may trainers get one. This little device is very handy. It serves as your ID, a credit card, a transfer device, a camera, and a Pokémon encyclopedia. It can scan a Pokémon and tell you it's abilities, but only your own. My hope is that you'll catch many Pokémon, and record their data on here so that I can research it. Here you go."

He pulled out a red Pokédex from the bag during his speech. It looked like a thin box with a rounded end that flipped open. He handed the red one to Ash, and pulled out three more. He gave a green one to Gary, a black one to Steven, and a Blue one to Max.

The Professor grinned and stepped over to the last table. "And now is the moment you've been waiting for. Time to choose your Pokémon. The one on the right is Charmander, the one in the middle is Bulbasaur, and the last one is Squirtle."

Gary stepped up and grabbed Squirtle's ball, and released it. The Squirtle popped out, and shook it's head. It looked up at Gary and the two had a staring contest. Gary apparently liked what he saw, because he bent down and patted it on the head.

Steven grabbed Bulbasaur's ball. He pulled out a bag of Pokémon food before releasing Bulbasaur. He gave the food to it, and smiled as it gobbled it up.

Max snatched Charmander's ball from the table, and stared at it for a few seconds. She released Charmander, and watched as it looked around. The Charmander looked at her as she knelt down. They stared at each other for a second, and Max asked, "Hey, Charmander… Wanna be my starter on my journey?"

The Charmander tilted it's head to the side. "Char?"

She rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish grin. "Well, I wanted to ask you first. For all I know, you want to be a wild Pokémon. I don't really have a set goal in mind. But I am going to be challenging the gyms. So, what do you say? Wanna be my starter?"

Charmander nodded his head with a firm 'Char', and stuck his hand out to shake. Max shook it's hand (Hand? Claw? Paw?), and the lizard glommed her. Laughing, she picked him up and said, "Pyro. I'll call you Pyro."

The now named Pyro cheered at his new name. Steven and Gary recalled their Pokémon, but Max left Pyro out.

The Professor smiled at us and said, "You are now officially Pokémon Trainers. All I ask is that you help my research, do the best you can, and stay safe. Now go out there and get started!"

Steven left, muttering something about needing to get his things. Gary smirked, and cockily left the room. Max stayed with Ash to see what Pokémon he was receiving.

The Professor turned to Ash. "Now for you. I have a Pokémon that could work, but it's a little… Disobedient. Do you want to see it, or do you want to go and catch a wild one?"

Ash and Max shared a glance, and he responded, "I'll take a look at the Pokémon you have. After all, if I shy away from a Pokémon with a small attitude, how could I possibly become friends with Pokémon, and be a Pokémon Master?"

Professor Oak left to get the Pokémon. Max and Ash fiddled around with their Pokédex, and put in their information.

"Hey Max?"

She glanced up from playing with Pyro. "Yeah?"

"Why not figure out Pyro's information?" He looked pointedly at her Pokédex.

Her face lit up with a smile. "Great idea!"

She flipped open the Pokédex and pointed it at Pyro.

"**Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. The fire on the tip of its tail is a measure of its life and emotions. If healthy, the tail burns brightly. The flame wavers when its happy, and blazes when enraged. It is said that steam spouts from the tip of its tail when it rains.**

**Gender: Male.**

**Abilities: Blaze. When the Pokémon has low health, fire attacks gain power. Solar Power (hidden ability). During sunshine, the Pokémon's Special Attack rises, but lowers health.**

**Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Bite*, and Crunch***

***These moves are due to breeding."**

Max looked over his stats. "Wow, Pyro! You have some pretty good moves! But we definitely need to add more to your repertoire."

Pyro puffed up at the praise. "Char, Charmander!"

At this point Professor Oak came back with a pokéball in hand. "Here you go. He was causing a little bit of trouble yesterday, and I managed to catch him."

Ash wasted no time, and immediately tossed the ball. "Come on out!"

When the light died down, they found a Pikachu standing there. It violently shook its head before staring up at them and exclaiming, "Pikachu!"

"Aw, you're such a cute little guy!" Ash exclaimed and reached down to hug Pikachu. He missed the dark look Pikachu had, and forgot all the training Professor Oak put them through. Never _ever_ hug a Pokémon when you don't know it nor its attitude towards people.

"Ash, wait!" Max tried warning him, but was too late. Ash picked up Pikachu, and was promptly electrocuted.

He comically fell to the floor, with smoke coming off his hair. Pikachu jumped out of Ash's arms, and glared at him.

Max rubbed her forehead. "Well, at least he has an excuse now for having uncontrollable hair…"

Professor Oak sighed. "Ash, don't you remember anything I taught you? You don't just hug an unknown Pokémon like that."

Ash miraculously recovered, and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry 'bout that, Pikachu."

Pikachu huffed, and turned away from Ash in a childish pout. "Hey, now don't be like that."

Ash dug around in his back pack, and took out some special made poffins. He stuck them out for Pikachu to sniff. "These are poffins. They're generally made in the Sinnoh region, but I know how to make some. Go on, try it."

Pikachu glanced at him nervously, before sniffing it. Not finding anything wrong with the smell, nor seeing anything deceptive in Ash's face, he snatched the poffin from Ash's hands. He nibbled on the treat, and his eyes widened comically. He immediately gobbled the poffin up like he hadn't eaten in years. Once it ceased to exist, Pikachu snapped to attention in front of Ash, clearly asking for more.

"Um…" Ash sweat-dropped as Pikachu continued to stare at him. The sweat-drop grew as Pikachu started utilizing Growlithe-puppy eyes. Eventually he caved, and shoved a bag of poffins in Pikachu's face. "Stop it! Take the whole bag! Don't ever do that again!"

The rest of us watching sweat-dropped at how easy Ash caved in, and at how quickly Pikachu was eating them up. "I guess that's one way to get him to listen to you…"

After a few seconds, the Professor coughed. "Now that you have your Pokémon, you can get started on your journey. Let's go outside. I'm pretty sure your parents are waiting."

They walked out of the front of the lab, and saw that Professor Oak was right. Their parents were waiting outside. As well as everyone else that knew about the two of them. Which was basically the whole town.

"Mom?" Ash called to his mother nervously. When she said that she had some things to do, he didn't think that she would mean something like this!

"Ash, dear, I'm so proud! You're already grown up, and leaving. I'm going to miss you."

Ash blushed as his mom hugged him. "I'm going to miss you too mom. But I'll call you when we get to Viridian City."

Max's parents stepped up when Ash was talking to Delia. "I can't believe you're already leaving. It feels just like yesterday you saw a trainer and declared you would be one."

Max rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I guess time can really fly, huh. Feels like that was a long time ago to me, so you two must be as old as the old Oak over there."

"Char, char!"

Max's mom looked down to see Pyro staring up at them curiously. She smiled and asked, "Oh? Who's this?"

Max bent down and pat Pyro's head. "This is Pyro, my starter. Pyro, meet my parents."

Max's dad bent down and stared Pyro in the eye. "Take care of my daughter, and make sure she doesn't get into to trouble, you hear?" he stated seriously.

Pyro nodded his head just as seriously. Max's dad stared at Pyro for a while longer, before smiling and petting Pyro on the head.

Ash, Delia, and the Professor came up to the three of them. "Well, I guess it's time to send them off." Delia said, her eyes watering.

Max launched herself at her parents. They shared a group hug for a few seconds, before dragging everyone else into it. They separated, and Max and Ash started down the road.

Their parents and the rest of the town waved until the two turned around a bend, and disappeared from sight.

Delia's smile slowly disappeared as she lowered her hand. What was she to do with her life now? The greatest joy of her life was gone.

"Well," Delia nearly jumped. "Why don't we head to our house and have some tea? We can reminisce about our kids and our own childhoods."

The smile returned to Delia's face. Her son and somewhat adopted daughter might be gone, but there were other people going through the same thing. She wasn't alone.

As the three of them walked back to the house, Delia turned back to the road her children disappeared on. She willed her thoughts to be heard by him. _'__Good luck, Ash. You will always make me proud.'_

* * *

**AN:** And that's a wrap. Hope you liked it.

This is my first time doing fanfiction, so reviews would be awesome. Cuz I really don't have any idea what I'm doing.

I have a small warning right now (I'll put this on my account page once I figure out how), I'm going to update my stories sporadically. Inspiration comes slowly for me, and couple that with school, you get someone who doesn't write that much. If it's a story I already wrote before hand, I'll try to post it regularly. But for the most part, it will take a while.

Thanks for reading! -Yasuragi


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I'm surprised. I managed to get two chapters up in two days. Go me.

Yay! Someone liked my story! Thank you Bigxdevil for being the first one!

This story is going to be a long one. How long, I have no idea, but it has to be big. It's going to detail their journey through the Indigo League. If I get that far.

Also, I'm not going to use any Kalos Pokémon or moves in any of these stories. I haven't played the games, nor do I particularly want to at this point. It's going to incorporate moves from Unova, and Pokémon if they show up. I'm also going to bend the rules a bit with some of the moves. In Black and White, Charmander couldn't learn Metal Claw without it being and egg move, while in past games it could learn it by leveling up. So, they'll be some bending.

Disclaimer: I completely forgot about this last chapter. I do not own anything Pokémon whatsoever, except for the games that I have. The only thing I own in this story is Max. Nothing else. All of that belongs to Kishimoto.

* * *

A New Friend: Kanto Journeys

Chapter 2

Ash and Max travelled down Route 1. Pyro glanced around with wide eyes, having never left the Corral at Professor Oak's. Pikachu just trailed behind Ash, not really wanting to be there, but hoping for more of the delicious poffins.

Max stopped and jerked her head towards the forest. A small path could be seen through the bushes. The four travelers turned off the road on to the side trail. Weaving through trees and bushes for a while, Pikachu and Pyro were unprepared for the trees to stop, and for them to nearly walk into a body of water.

They had walked into a clearing with a small lake. The water shone with the sun, and rippled in the small breeze. The grass moved with the wind and the Pokémon that shuffled through it. Only on thing seemed out of place in the tranquil scene.

Ash and Max stopped in surprise when they saw that disturbance. A trainer, fishing at the far edge of the lake.

The two of them had visited the lake for most for their life. They loved to play in the fields at the edge of town, and sometimes snuck off into the woods. On one of those adventures, they chanced upon the lake. It became their secret spot.

But they've never seen anyone else there.

The trainer looked up when the sound of the Pokémon paused. She was about their age, with bright orange hair tied up in a side ponytail. She wore a yellow, low-cut shirt, short jeans, and red suspenders. Her cerulean-blue eyes stared at them in surprise.

They three trainers stared at each other for a few seconds. Eventually, the orange-haired trainer turned back to her fishing pole. Ash and Max headed off for the grassy part of the clearing, a ways away from the other trainer.

Max turned to Ash and said, "Why don't we train here for a couple of days? We can get to know our Pokémon better," she pointedly looked at Pikachu, "and maybe even catch some more."

Ash nodded, and looked to Pikachu. Pikachu stared back for a couple of seconds, then turned its head away snottily. Ash sighed and muttered, "We have a lot of work ahead of us…"

* * *

A couple of hours later, Max and Pyro made great progress. She started by trying to improve his speed, power, and evasion. She set up a regime of running laps around the lake (joining him, of course. She also wants to stay in shape), throwing rocks at him, and then practicing moves against boulders.

Once that was done, Pyro tried to learn more moves. They practiced Smokescreen, which he got easily, and then Metal Claw. By the end of the day, he started making deeper gouges in the boulders.

As for Ash and Pikachu, the complete opposite occurred.

They got no where.

Pikachu only wanted to listen to Ash if he got more poffins. Once he realized that Ash didn't have any more, he refused to cooperate.

Max tried helping Ash when she and Pyro were on breaks, but he stubbornly refused. He was going to do this on his own.

From scanning Pikachu, he found that he was rather strong. He had the abilities of Static, which would occasionally paralyze an opponent if contact was made, and Lightningrod, which draws electric type moves to Pikachu, and then renders them useless. It can also power up his electric type moves.

His move repertoire wasn't too bad either. He knew Growl, Thundershock, Tail Whip, Thunder Wave, and Quick Attack. The Pokédex also said that he had the ability to learn Volt Tackle, but it would take a bit to learn that one.

The day passed by quickly, and all too soon for the new trainers, the sun was setting. They had a dinner of berries they found near the clearing, and set up camp near the water.

The orange-haired trainer had left by that point. Apparently, the fish weren't biting much, and so she moved on. They never noticed when she did; they were too caught up in their training.

Max tucked into her sleeping bag, Pyro snuggled up to her side. With his tail outside of it, of course.

Ash tried to do the same with Pikachu, but he just scampered off and slept in a tree. Deeming that a lost cause, he too tucked into his sleeping bag.

Soon, the four slipped into blissful dreams.

* * *

The next morning was peaceful. The bird Pokémon were singing, the Rattata were gathering food, the Magikarp were jumping. Just another, regular, peaceful morning.

That is, until our favorite trainers woke up.

"Yo! Lazy-butt! Get out of your sleeping bag and get to breakfast before some Rattata steal it."

Max was trying to wake up Ash, who always wanted to sleep in until noon. She snagged some berries that were left from the night before and hopped over to Pikachu's tree. She searched among the branches, and found him waking up in one of the lower ones.

She smiled, and called out, "Hey Pikachu! I have breakfast!"

Pikachu looked down to see her holding up some berries. He wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste. He wanted more of those poffins, damnit!

She laughed at his adorably annoyed face. "I know it's not those poffins you want, nor is it Pokéchow. But, they taste good, and work just as well."

He sighed, and hopped down to the ground. Glaring up at Max, he gestured 'gimme'. Giggling, she place the assorted berries on the ground in front of him. She left him to eating, and checked on Ash to make sure he wasn't trying to sleep some more.

Satisfied that he wasn't, she grabbed some berries herself, and sat down with Ash and Pyro.

"I think we need to make a more definite plan."

Ash glanced up from the food he was eating. "A plan for what?"

She looked around the clearing. "Well, how long are we going to stay here? A couple of days? A week? Longer? What are we going to do while we are here? What are we going to do after? That kind of stuff."

Ash glanced at Pikachu, and said, "I think we should stay here until I can get along with Pikachu."

Max raised her eyebrows at that. "You sure? That could take a while."

Ash continued to stare at Pikachu, silent. She looked between the two of them, then sighed. She stood up, and said, "We could try, but I'm not staying here longer than a week. Hopefully, you two can manage to sort it out by then."

At that, she gathered Pyro and set off for training.

* * *

The week passed by like this. Max and Pyro getting more in sync, and Ash trying (and failing) to become friends with Pikachu.

Pyro improved greatly in that time. He learned, but entirely mastered, Metal Claw. Max also got him started on Double Team, Sunny Day, and even Brick Break.

Max even caught her first Pokémon. A Magikarp affectionately named Scar.

* * *

(Flashback no Jutsu)

Max was near the lack training with Pyro, trying to get him to learn Metal Claw. They were slowly getting closer, but weren't quite there yet.

In the couple of days they were there, they never saw another human (excluding the orange-haired trainer on the first day).

But their training ground wasn't too out of the way to be noticed.

Max was in the middle of checking her Pokédex for tips on teaching the move, when she saw a figure step out from the trees. Looking up, she saw that it was another kid, with a fishing pole slung across his shoulder.

They watched each other for a second. The other kid raised his hand in greeting, and then plopped down next to the lake. He then cast his pole, and got to fishing.

Not really caring at what he does, she shrugged, and went back to checking her Pokédex.

The hours passed like that. Max training Pyro, and the kid fishing.

Then the weirdness started.

The kid started catching Pokémon. But he always caught Magikarp. And, apparently, Magikarp are not what he was looking for, because he always threw them back in.

Eventually though, Max and the kid realized something.

He was catching the same exact Magikarp every time.

Normally, you wouldn't be able to tell. But this Magikarp had a big X-like scar on it's side. And he caught it every single time.

Naturally, the kid started getting frustrated. Anyone would. But he went a little too far in his retaliation. He caught the Magikarp again, but this time left it flopping on the bank as he cast in pole again.

The Magikarp, not wanting to be deterred, flopped it's way back into the water. An the process started again.

By the end of a half an hour of that happening, the kid was fuming. Max could even swear that she saw steam come out of his ears.

The next time he caught it, he snapped. He stood up, and yelled, "You stupid fish! Why are you doing this? Con't you tell I don't want to catch a worthless little thing like you? All you ever do is flop! No trainer wants to train something as useless as you!"

In his anger, he kicked the Magikarp away from the bank, and stormed off. The Magikarp just continued to flop. What else could it do? I was too far from the bank to jump back in.

Imagine its surprise when it was picked up and thrown back into the water. It resurfaced to see Max smiling down at it.

"There ya go. That's probably nicer than bouncing around up here."

The Magikarp nodded its thanks, then turned away to sulk. It was stopped when Max continued.

"You aren't useless, you know."

Magikarp turned back to see Max smiling at it. "Not one Pokémon is useless. They all have different strengths than others. Yours just aren't as apparent."

Max tilted her head to the side. She brought out her Pokédex, and pointed it at Magikarp.

**"****Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon. It is said to be the world's weakest Pokémon. It is unable to swim against even the strongest currents. However, it is actually a very hardy Pokémon that can survive in any body of water no matter how polluted it is. One rare occasions, it may jump high, but no higher than even feet. Due to their jumping, they are easy prey for predators like Pidgeotto to catch. There is a legend that a Magikarp that has lived for many years managed to leap over a mountain."**

Max grinned at Magikarp. "See what I mean? In battle, your not really the best. But in survival? You oust most Pokémon in that regard."

The Magikarp stared at her in shock. No one has ever said it was strong. Not even the wild Pokémon in the area has said anything. But this human just said that it was? And was better than most others?

Max looked down at the Pokédex again, and started in surprise. "Would you look at that! Magikarp evolve into Gyarados, one of the fiercest Pokémon in existence! How cool is that!"

Magikarp swelled in pride at that. Most people and Pokémon forgot about what Magikarp evolve into. True, Magikarp rarely evolve into Gyarados in the wild, but it still was a possibility.

Max stared at Magikarp in awe. "Wow. Who would've thought that the reputed weakest Pokémon on the planet evolves into the fiercest Pokémon on the planet. Talk about ironic."

Max stared at the Magikarp for a few seconds, before asking, "Were you always being pulled in by that kid because you wanted to be caught? So that you could evolve into a Gyarados?"

Magikarp nodded his head vigorously. It was the dream of every Magikarp to evolve into a Gyaraods.

A grin split Max's face, as she pulled out a Pokéball. "Well, wanna join my team? You seem pretty awesome, and the fact that you can evolve into Gyarados doesn't hurt. So what do ya say? Wanna be my first caught Pokémon?"

Magikarp's eyes nearly fell out with how wide they were. This trainer, who not only complemented his species numerous times, is actually asking whether Magikarp wants to join her team? And also as the first Pokémon she ever captures?

Magikarp nodded his head so vigorously, Max was afraid he would come flying out of the water. She expanded the Pokéball, and Magikarp jumped up and pressed the button.

* * *

(End Flashback no Jutsu)

And that's how Max caught Scar.

She put him through the ropes as well. Working on speed and power was her highest priority with Scar, seeing as how their low for all Magikarp.

As for Ash and Pikachu, progress was nil. Pikachu just didn't want to do anything with humans, and nothing Ash did could warrant Pikachu's respect. Ash's patience was nearing the breaking point.

Keeping to her promise, Max forced the group to continue on. They travelled along the road, watching the Pokémon, bonding with their own (or trying and failing in Ash's case), and training.

Max had Pyro try and make his Metal Claw sharper by sharpening sticks on the road. Scar couldn't really train without water, though, so he stayed in his ball.

The group of four kept this up until the sun started setting. They walked off the path, and found a small clearing at the edge of the trees.

They set up camp, and were making a dinner of canned beans in the fire Pyro started. Pyro was chattering away to Magikarp (luckily enough, there was a stream right next to the clearing), but paused when a low grumbling sound filled the air.

Max laughed, and said, "Hold on a second. The food's almost done."

Ash gave her a confused look. "What?"

She frowned, and glanced back to him. "Wasn't that your stomach growling?"

He blinked. "No. I thought that was yours."

Max's frown deepened in confusion. She turned to Pyro and Scar, and asked, "Was that one of you?"

The two shook their heads in the negative, bodies tense. Max turned to Pikachu, and he also shook his head. His ears were twitching as if trying to find the location of the sound that had already disappeared.

Max turned back to Ash. He shrugged. "Maybe it was nothing."

Now more wary, Max turned back to the beans. After a few seconds, however, the growling started up again. But much louder than before, and longer.

Pikachu whipped his head around to the grass at the edge of the clearing. Pyro stood up as well.

Ash tried peering into the foliage, but the sun had set, and the shadows cast by the fire didn't help. The grass rustled, and Pikachu's cheeks started sparking in warning.

Ash saw a shadow just beyond the beginning of the grass, but couldn't make it out. Pyro stepped up next to Pikachu, and flared his tail in warning.

And the shadow of a monster appeared.

* * *

**AN:** Dun dun dun. I never realized that making cliffhangers could be so fun.

I don't have much else to say. Most of it was said up top.

Er... Yea. I'm probably not going to update for a while. Not unless I can catch a break from school this week.

Probably not going to happen.

Please read. Review if you want. My inspiration is fine for now, but some opinions would be nice.

-Yasuragi12


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